Intertwined Souls: Broken Thorns Of Life
by GoddessOfSweetness-Me
Summary: A Nico di Angelo story. He lost his parents, but at least he got his sister back. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE where everyone is a mortal. Sad story with a happy ending. WARNING: Depression, Character death, Suicidal thoughts


**Title:** INTERTWINED SOULS: Broken Thorns Of Life

**Fandom:** Percy Jackson

**Time Setting:** February, 1978 and February, 1994

**World:**_ *Alternate Universe*_ where everyone is a mortal. Nico, Hazel, and Bianca have the same parents, and therefore Hazel's last name is di Angelo. And Hades is not a god, so even he has the last name di Angelo. Percy Jackson's real parents died, so he was adopted by Paul and Sally Blofis. And Tyson is the Blofis' real son, who views Percy as his 'big brother'.

**Characters:** Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo, Hades, Maria di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Percy Jackson, Piper McLean, Zoe Nightshade, Will Solace, Thalia Grace, Tyson

**Original characters:** Valerius Hades di Angelo

**Warning:** Character death, Depressing themes, Self hatred, Pessimism, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional crap. All that may cause you to cry. Not your cup of tea? Then, shoo! Oh wait, extra cute Original Character. You may want to stay for that.

**Summary:**

Pointing to a tombstone, the little boy turned to the older man next to him. His father, perhaps?  
"Daddy, this says 'Hades and Maria di Angelo'. This is where grandmamma and granddaddy live?"

**Songs inspiring this:** One Thing, More Than This, and I Wish by One Direction. Whiskey Lullaby by Alison Krauss ft. Brad Paisley or Brad Paisley ft. Alison Krauss. Whatever. The Burning Red by Machine Head also.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own PJO or HoO. I only own the plot of this story and Valerius di Angelo. No money is made from this except in the form of follows, favorites, and reviews.

**Author's Note:** I wasn't inspired BY the first three songs, but I was listening to them with headphones on while typing this (AWESOME! Try it sometime. Either read, or write while listening :P ), and I just got an amazing idea, which I put into this. So yeah. But I WAS inspired by Whiskey Lullaby. Listening to it now :) And I _don't know why_, but I think More Than This was just _MADE FOR THIS STORY_! _Or_ that this story was made for that song! And also Whiskey Lullaby. STORY OF MY LIFE!  
Sorry, but music is my life.

This story is dedicated to Bill Cipher112 as a late gift for her birthday.

* * *

**INTERTWINED SOULS**

_Broken Thorns Of Life_

_(February, 1978)_

The car had crashed. Fallen off a cliff. And falling off from the cliff, it had taken Hades and Maria di Angelo's life. Leaving Bianca and Nico di Angelo alive.

It had been instant death. Nico hadn't even had time to process it. One moment, his mother had screamed as a look of realization came over her face, and the next, everything had been silent except for the sound of gas leaking out of the engine.

Bianca had gone into hysteria. Whether it had been because of her leg that had been crushed, or because of their parents' death, Nico didn't know.

He had suffered a blow to his head, the reason he was here in the hospital. Having just woken up, he had made a note about his surroundings. The walls felt constricting, mainly because he hated the smell of medicines. Also, he hated the color white, which seemed to be the main color of hospitals.

Sighing, he got up. His head was throbbing, but he paid no mind to it. He only had one thing on his mind. Bianca. Even if his parents had died, he at least had his sister left. He needed to make sure she was alright.

His feet had barely touched the ground, when a wave of nausea hit him and a sharp pain shot up his leg. Cursing, he steadied himself, holding the bedpost.

Of course, he thought darkly, of course I broke my left leg. The leg that had suffered enough hits in his short life of sixteen years. How could it not, anyway? He was destined to have a broken leg every two months.

Be optimistic, his mother always told me. But what use was being optimistic when there was no one to _tell_ him to be? When his mother wasn't there to tell him? She was dead. Gone. Still, there was no use mourning his death. If there was one thing that he had learnt by being Hades di Angelo's son, it was that the dead did not return. Once gone, the dead are forever gone, with only the memories of them left. They can't be brought back, nor can the living be stopped from passing into the afterlife. So what use was his mourning for his mother?

Right, he had to check on Bianca.

With as much vigor as he could muster, Nico made his way to the door. He had just reached it, when the door was flung open, causing him to stumble and almost lose his balance for the second time.

"Uh, sorry," someone apologized, "Didn't see you there. You okay?"

Nico refrained from biting back that _no_, he was _not_ okay. If he had been, he wouldn't have been confined to a white room wearing a hospital gown. Also, _of course_ the stranger didn't see him. He was on the other side of a _closed_ door, for god's sake! Unless he could see through opaque material, which Nico was sure was not possible.

Instead, he smiled mockingly, "I'm alright, thank you. Perfectly fine. Now, would you like some tea? With cookies maybe? Butter or chocolate? Personally, I think chocolate is better."

Chuckling, the man set down a tray by his bedside. Turning slightly, Nico asked, "Who are you? Where's my sister? Is she okay?"

"Oh, Bianca di Angelo? She's fine. She's with Zoe and Thals right now." he paused then continued, "Actually, she's fine... physically. Emotionally, I'm afraid, but, I don't think so."

Twisting his lip, Nico snarled, "Do you think _anyone_ can be fine after the death of his or her parents?! Huh? Or maybe _you_ wouldn't be sad when _your_ parents meet death." It was a low blow, but still.

To his surprise, the nurse's face hardened. With a tight voice, he replied, "I don't need to "not be sad" in the _future_. I've already experienced that happiness, your Deadly Highness. Been there, done that. At the age of _five_."

Stunned, Nico was left speechless. He hadn't thought about it. Heck, now that he thought about it, it was obvious. He had been in this hospital before, and guess what? The uniform tag worn by this nurse read 'Percy J.'. This was _Percy Jackson_. The person whose mother had counselled Nico years ago, in the room _right_ below this one, Nico could guess. And then, Percy, who had just been a boy then, had told him he was an orphan. And that he had been adopted by Paul and Sally Blofis. And how he wanted to make his adoptive parents proud one day by working in this hospital and doing service to humanity. He remembered the day clear as, well, day.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the other man's demeanor changed, "Hey!" he chirped, smiling cheerfully, "I'm Percy. Percy Jackson. And you would be Nico di Angelo, right?" Getting a numb nod from the patient, the nurse- Percy- continued, "So basically, you've been in a coma for some time. Three months. And, I've been assigned as your nurse. And-"

"Bianca?", Nico cut off impatiently, "What about her? Is she here? Is she fine?" he asked frantically.

"Chill dude. She's fine. Just a broken leg. Nothing else. It's _you_ whose condition was critical. Still is." After a quiet pause, "I'm sorry."

Quelling down the need to scream, Nico got his emotions under control. It was no use screaming. Still, he could at least be angry, if not furious, "Why are _you_ sorry? It's not like _you_ were the cliff. It's not like _you_ caused their death. Then WHY ARE _YOU_ SORRY?! I _don't_ need your pity!"He was embarrassed to admit his tone sounded more defensive that threatening.

Sighing, Percy pinched the bridge of his nose. Nico got the impression that Percy thought he was a whiny child and was _amused_ by that. However, he wasn't able to call Percy on it, because he had once again started talking, "I'm not sorry because I pity you. Even I've been in your shoes and I know how it feels to be treated as a glass doll, because people are afraid that you'll break at the mention of your deceased parents. I don't pity you. I'm sorry because you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders at such a young age. And _no_, this is _not_ pity. Someone says they're sorry, that doesn't mean they pity you, okay? I said sorry because, as I said, you have to carry the weight of the world at such a young age. How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"Now you're blowing it out of proportion." Nico pointed out uneasily. "I'm not carrying the weight of the _world. _But, yeah, I'm sixteen. Turning seventeen on the twenty-eighth of January."

"Oh." Percy's eyes took on a sad light, "That means you are already seventeen. You missed your birthday."

"Really?" Nico asked. Part of him was sad, because he had always celebrated his birthday by going to the local museum with his family. But part of him was happy. Because, there was no family now to celebrate his birthday with. "What date is it today?"

"February sixth."

"Oh"

"Yeah" Percy smiled, his eyes crinkling. "It's your sister's birthday next week, isn't it? On fourteenth Feb?"

"Yeah, she's turning nineteen." Nico replied, though he didn't know why he found it necessary to tell Percy _that_. Must be because of how kindly he had treated Nico till now. If it had been anyone else, Nico was sure that he would have been sitting in an empty room staring at the walls a long time ago.

But anyway.

"So," Percy asked, dragging out the 'so', "Are you actually going to celebrate it?"

When Nico gave him a look usually reserved for aliens or for people of the mental ward, Percy hastened to elaborate, "You know, because you parents... and all that. And you just woke up. I'm not even sure if you've recovered yet."

The weirded out look melting to make way for an incredulous one, Nico grunted, "Why would I _not_ celebrate her birthday just because of my injuries and mom and dad's death? Bianca is still _there_. She's the one that matters now. It's not like I won't celebrate her birthday just because I just celebrated my parents' death day. I have the right to celebrate whenever I want. There are no restrictions. Are there?" he raised his eyebrow.

Something must have happened, because opening his mouth, then blushing and shutting it, Percy left the room.

Having an odd urge to laugh or giggle or do _anything_ else like that and be _happy_, Nico did.

* * *

He was finally let out of his room, after Dr. Solace had proclaimed him recovered of his injuries. _And_, he got to see his sister.

It was like one of those typical reunion scenes.

Bianca had been sitting with three girls in the reception, laughing softly. But when she heard his footsteps and turned, her eyes widened almost to the size of saucers. Then, jumping up and rushing over to Nico, she enveloped him in her arms, nearly knocking him down. "Nico," she gushed, "I'm _so_ happy you're alright. You have no idea _how_ happy, my baby brother." Putting his own arms around her, Nico buried his head in his sister's neck, Bianca doing the same. When he felt tears seeping onto his shoulder through his clothes, Nico tightened his hold on his sister. Whispering to each other that it would be okay, they stayed that way for a long time.

Finally, breaking away from her brother, Bianca turned towards Percy. "Thank you _so_ much for watching over him all those times you've done so. I don't know how I can ever repay you. And _please_ don't say that I should thank Dr. Solace, because I _will_. But I feel that your contribution to my brother's recovery was far more than the doctor's. So please, accept my gratitude. And, brother" addressing Nico again, she shot him a look and spoke in a tone of finality that left no arguments, "Thank Percy. Without him, you wouldn't have been where you are right now. On your feet, I mean."

Sighing, Nico turned to Percy, "Thank you _so _much for all you did. Without you, I wouldn't have a reason to live. You're my knight in shining armor, good sir."

Grinning, Percy bowed, "Of _course_, m'lady. _Anything_ to save a damsel in distress from harm."

Looking between both of them, the girl with the electric blue eyes groaned, "Oh Percy, please don't tell me you've managed to charm _another_ unsuspecting person with your stupidity." Sharing a high five with another girl, Native American by the looks for her, the girl laughed.

"Thalia, _please_ shut up." Percy said.

"I think _you_ should shut up, _Perseus._" the last girl said, smirking ever so faintly, causing all the remaining girls in the room to succumb to peals of laughter.

"Nico," Percy whined, "The girls are ganging up on me. _Bullying_ me. Especially Zoe! Defend me!"

"Why should I, _Perseus_?" Nico asked, as innocent as an angel. Which just caused another round of laughter from the girls and Percy to hide his face in his hands and whine some more.

* * *

It had been a week since Nico had been released from the hospital. He and Bianca had gone back to their house, seeing no reason to not go there. They had adjusted pretty well to the loss of their parents, though it still hurt sometimes when he called out to his mother, only to realize that she wasn't there. Sometimes he crept into his father's study, only to remember. Remember that Hades couldn't scold his son now for snooping around in his study.

* * *

On the twelfth of February, at half past six in the evening, Nico and Bianca dressed up in some of their finest clothes. Nico in a tuxedo, and Bianca in the dress she had worn for their school dance all those years ago.

Driving to the cemetery, they reached the site of the funeral. After all the customary practices, Hades and Maria di Angelo were buried in their own cemetery. At the exact spot Maria had always joked about being buried at.

Beneath the willow.

How ironic. There are _so many_ riddles on coffins. A very famous one is 'The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, doesn't use it. And the one who uses it, doesn't know he's using it.' But in this case, Maria had _known_. What exactly had she said on the evening of the accident? Oh yes! 'Children, if I die tonight, do bury me in my favorite place, alright? Beneath the willow, won't you?'

* * *

It was the evening of thirteenth February.

And Nico di Angelo had his headphones on, listening to Whiskey Lullaby, one of his favorite songs.

'_We found her with her face down in the pillow,_

_Clinging to his picture for dear life'_

The people had told Bianca and him what they knew. What they had found. Maria had held Hades' hand even through death.

'_We laid her next to him, beneath the willow_

_While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby'_

How fitting, anyway. They were The Angels, literally. That's what their last name meant.

"Oh, _how_ I wish, that was me." Nico sobbed, with his head on his knees. "I wish, you hadn't died, mom and dad. _I_ should have died. The antisocial kid. The useless one. The one with his head too high in the clouds. The one _obsessed _with mythology. The one who played _Mythomagic_ at the age of _ten_. The one who couldn't cope with the loss of his sister and became a recluse and limited his interactions with people. And the one who unsettled everyone within a perimeter of a hundred meters. " Raising his head, he screamed, "I WISH _I_ HAD BEEN THE ONE TO DIE! YOU DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE. _I_ DO! _I_ do..." he trailed off, staring at the ground.

"I _hate_ my life... Why? _Why_? It's like I'm in a soap opera. _Everything_ is wrong with my life. My life is like a freaking _thorn_ in everyone else's life. Broken thorn. Yeah. If I ever write an autobiography, the title's gonna be Broken Thorns Of Life. Yeah. I'm stupid. I wish I could get drunk and hang myself. But Bianca would be heartbroken. I don't know why I even care. Oh, I do know. It's because we're each others only family now. And I love her. Dammit."

And that was how Bianca found him an hour later. Slumped against the wall with dried tear tracks on his face. Unlocking the iPod, she found Whiskey Lullaby playing on repeat.

* * *

"Why exactly do we have to do this, Bianca?" Nico griped yet again.

"Because Percy called us, you idiot. You should at least be grateful enough to go to wherever he called us."

"But it's your _birthday_ today! Can't you just tell him that? If he's so nice then he should understand that you'd rather spend your day doing what _you _want instead of listening to him."

"Yeah Nico. That's exactly what I said. He _does_ understand that I _want _to spend my day wherever they called us." Bianca spoke, a feeling of triumph welling up in her at the look on her brother's face. Pouty.

Parking the car and getting out, Bianca waited for her brother to move.

"Guys!" Percy waived enthusiastically from the door of the Blofis residence. "Over here!" Which made Nico grumble even more.

Half an hour later, the di Angelos *cough* only Bianca *cough* could be heard laughing over the music.

"Really?! You freaking _blew up_ your Chemistry Lab?"

"Yup," Percy replied proudly, "Ty was there. Weren't you, bro?"

"Yes!" Tyson Blofis shouted eagerly, "Big brother did!" And he suffocated his 'big brother' with a giant hug.

Seeing this, Nico felt a spark of something he hadn't felt in years.

Affection for a younger sibling.

"Hey. You're Nico di Angelo?" a golden eyed girl sat down next to him.

Not really paying attention to her, he nodded absently, still stuck on his previous thought.

"Oh." the girl started again, a bit too cheerily with an underlying tone of something Nico couldn't pinpoint "Nice to meet you. I'm Hazel di Angelo. Youngest of three siblings. My parents were Hades and Maria di Angelo. I attended their funeral day before yesterday. My brother was there, standing next to the willow tree holding a rose."

Whipping his head, Nico stared at the girl claiming to be his sister with a horrified look on his face. A dark skinned girl with eyes like molten gold. A girl with Maria's eyes. Hazel... the sister who had gone missing nearly a decade ago. Seven years ago. Nico had no doubts at all. This was Hazel di Angelo. One might ask him how he could be so sure, and he wouldn't know the answer to that question. Hell, no one could. One could say he thought she was his sister only to have a replacement for all his family members' death. But no. It was just familial instinct. He just _knew_. This was the girl who he used to swing twelve years ago. This was the girl who forced him to play dolls with her. This was the girl who allied with Bianca and annoyed her brother. This was the girl for who he had lost most of his emotions. This was the girl for who he would give up his life.

And now, looking at her, he didn't even feel ashamed for bursting into tears. He didn't care. He had finally found his sister. Or, she had found him. Whatever.

Clinging, to her, he sobbed out all his sorrows at losing her, and all his happiness at finding her again. When he felt arms winding around both of them, he cried even more. But not like the previous day. No. This time, he wasn't demeaning himself. He wasn't sad. He wasn't angry. He wasn't depressed. He was happy. Content.

The first time he had lost his happy demeanor was when Hazel had been ripped from his life. And the second, his parents. His lovely, beautiful mother, the only person who could soothe his father enough to get a check on his anger. And his father, the man who was strict with everyone. Even scolded Nico a lot, but when no one was looking, smiled fondly at his children's antics and how his wife always sided with their kids.

Now, Nico didn't have much positive feelings left to lose.

But, he could _gain_ happiness. Love. Everything would be okay. He had his sisters...

...He had everything in the world.

* * *

_(February, 1994)_

It was cold. Why wouldn't it be? It was _February_, for heaven's sake.

Sighing, the travelers rested under the shade of a tree near the cemetery. While the blond man talked, the red head observed things around.

From a distance, she could make out two figures moving towards them. When they were close enough, Rachel realized they were two males, the black haired one nearly thrice the size of the small blond. Telling Octavian to _shut up_ because she _couldn't_ hear, she squinted.

Pointing to a tombstone, the little boy turned to the older man next to him. His father, perhaps?

"Daddy, this says 'Hades and Maria di Angelo'. This is where grand-mamma and granddaddy live?"

"Yes, Valerius, this is where your grandparents live. They moved out when I was sixteen years old and Auntie Bianca was eighteen and Auntie Hazel was fifteen. Your grand-mamma loved this place." Nico di Angelo told his seven year old son, setting down one more rose on the ground in front of the tombstone, next to sixteen more.

"It's your seventeenth death anniversary today, mom, dad. It's seventeenth October. Oh, and meet Valerius Hades di Angelo, I named him after you dad. Mom, you know how you always used to say that if someone you love dies on the same day as someone you love is born, that means it is the same soul residing in both of them? Guess what? It's his birthday _today_." he whispered, his words carried away by the wind, too quiet for an excited child to hear.

* * *

**The beginning of this had been in my rough notebook for a long time, but then yesterday I sat down to type that up, and it sort of just went forward from there. And it took me SIX hours yesterday to type the entire thing and edit it, _and_ I edited it today also for about half an hour, so yeah.**

**This story is dedicated to you, Bill Cipher112 as a late birthday gift, because I couldn't update the other story. Sorry.**

**Hope you guys liked this.**

**Did _anyone_ cry after reading this? Please say you did. Otherwise _I'll_ start crying. Because I spent a lot of time on this. And I wanted it to be perfect.**

**Any typos, please tell me. I'm too damn tired of looking at this over and over so I'm leaving it at this point. But I may edit it in the future, so I need your help.**

**Feedback is appreciated very much.**

**And DAMN, this is my longest one-shot till now. I feel happy :) Even though it's the saddest story I've written so far. The FEELS IN IT! :') I feel as if I've accomplished my life long goal or something.**

**Bye, for now.**

**Gonna see you guys soon, with a _way_ lighter story.**

**Peace out,**

**XOXO, **

**~GoddessOfSweetness**


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